(AFP Photo)
In a joint statement released on Monday, groups meeting under the auspices of the Federation of Egyptian Industries announced their objection to a new mining law and its executive regulations in their current form, claiming that it violates the constitution approved by Egyptians and that the constitution stipulated participation by the civil and industrial society in formulating laws and regulations that pertain to them, which did not take place in the case of this law.
A meeting was held in the presence of representatives of the Egyptian Federation of Industries, the Chamber of Construction Materials, the Chamber of Petroleum and Mining, and the Chamber of Chemical Industries with participation by the Export Council for Building Materials. The meeting was held with the goal of discussing the new mineral resources law and the executive regulations proposed by the Ministry of Petroleum, set to be issued soon.
The statement went on to say that the law has overlooked the opinion of civil and industrial society experts and scholars in the mineral resources field who have consistently demanded a law to enhance the state capacities and optimally utilise mineral resources in order to attain maximum benefit for the national economy.
The statement claimed that their objection to the law is due to its conflicting terms and the fact that it overlooks the public interest represented in governorates reaping the benefits of this industry if a law is agreed upon, in addition to the interests of investors in the sector, whether Egyptians or foreigners. Their investments will be doubled if a law is issued guaranteeing safe investments instead of one that overlooks their investors’ needs.
The statement said that the new law has changed the state’s policy from encouraging investment to collection – through the extraction process or the process of converting materials into products – which would raise prices for mining and quarry products and negatively affect the industry.
The statement also said that Law 86, which is currently in force, is superior to the new law except for the items pertaining to financial figures for royalties, rents and fees, noting that these figures can be amended so that Law 86 would be more effective and contribute to both developing state resources and industrial society’s participation in community development.
